Creating Feminist Paths with Mood Boards
Description
In Creating Feminist Paths with Mood Boards, Floriane Fo Misslin opens up a path toward an intersectional feminist citational practice for visual references. The essay rethinks mood boards—often dismissed as simple inspiration tools—as sites for thoughtful and politically engaged feminist work. Misslin shows how they can map connections, surface overlooked voices, and challenge dominant narratives in design and education. Through intentional curation, mood boards become spaces for reflection, citation, and imagination—offering ways to practice solidarity, build collective knowledge, and foster more inclusive and critical modes of working, especially in creative and pedagogical contexts.
Reflection
Misslin’s feminist expansion of the mood board as a citational tool is a much-needed intervention in fashion, where visual referencing often goes unacknowledged or uncredited. The work draws urgent attention to how inspiration circulates—and how it might be redirected toward more ethical, inclusive, and reflexive practices. In a field that frequently celebrates aesthetics without interrogating power, this approach offers a critical perspective on citation as both visual and political. It urges fashion practitioners to trace their influences with care and to reimagine how knowledge is shared.
Quote
"Where does authorship begin? Is a bibliography—or a set of visual references—intellectual property?"
External references
Added on
08.07.25